Far-right surge: Here's how Europe will look like after elections next year | Gravitas

Amid global geopolitical uncertainty, the recent electoral gains of Alternative for Deutschland, or AfD, have sent shockwaves across Europe. As Europe gears up for a series of elections in 2027, far-right parties are likely to gain electoral ground across the continent.

Over the next year, parliamentary elections will take place in Finland, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Spain, whereas presidential polls are due in France.

With concerns over immigration, the rising cost of living and a sluggish economy, parties towards the far-right of the political spectrum are fast making a headway.

Take France, for instance.

According to a latest survey conducted from September 22 to 24, Marine Le Pen is leading next year’s presidential race, with her expected to win 35 to 36% of the votes in the first round of the election.

Le Pen, who is the presidential candidate of France's far-right National Rally Party, came third in the 2012 presidential election.

She emerged as the runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 as well as 2022.

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon of the France Unbowed Party is projected to be her main opponent.

In another boost for Le Pen, her party and its allies increased their tally in the latest senate election to 14.

While the National Rally is the single largest opposition party in the lower house of France, it has now won enough seats to form a parliamentary group in the senate for the first time.

Thus, with Macron out of the poll race, a victory for Le Pen cannot be ruled out.

Now, let's turn our attention to Italy.

Giorgia Meloni, who became the longest-serving Italian prime minister earlier this month, is facing a challenge from a party which leans even more to the right.

The newly launched National Future Party, headed by former army general Roberto Vannacci, is already polling around eight per cent, making it Italy's fourth-largest political force.

His poll plank includes the forced return of immigrants and a limit on foreign residents.

In this backdrop, Meloni has been taking a tougher stance on immigration.

Last week, her government imposed a ban on burqa and niqab in schools and announced that children without Italian citizenship or with poor knowledge of the Italian language will be capped at 30% in schools.

In Spain, a tough electoral battle awaits PM Pedro Sanchez next year with his government mired in corruption allegations.

His wife, Begona Gomez, is set to stand trial on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement.

According to an opinion poll published earlier this month, a majority of respondents termed his handling of the Ceuta migrant crisis as bad or very bad.

Additionally, over half of the respondents expressed intent to vote for the Conservative People's Party and far-right Vox Party.

The support for the ruling socialist party dipped to 27%.

In Poland, next year's parliamentary elections will also be closely watched for a possible comeback of the right-wing Law and Justice Party.

Backed by this party, Karol Nawrocki narrowly won the country's presidential election last year.

While federal elections are not due in Germany in 2027, polls are scheduled in at least five states.

With his approval ratings at a record low and the AfD emerging as the most popular party nationally, Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces an uphill task.

Amid the rise of the far-right, Macron called upon Europe to rediscover the courage of its founding fathers and not give in to divisive nationalism.